The pent up desire of some American’s to lambast an Englishman for daring to speak of NFL is one of the most amusing things I’ve seen online all year. It’s like 15 years of being called shit fans by Brexit Twitter has had an impact on them. I can’t tolerate the steady stream of nonsense from people telling me the LA Rams and Arsenal aren’t comparable. If you’re saying that, you aren’t paying attention to a sport you’re trying to claim a knowledge advantage on, so now I am about to school you in with a touchgoal of a post.
My central argument is that the LA Rams has embarked on an innovative strategy to capture the imagination of a city that has plenty of elite pass times. This from the WaPo:
Anywhere else in America, an undefeated NFL team beating teams by 15 points on average would be a dominant civic force. Here, it is different. The Dodgers are in the World Series, LeBron James is on the Lakers, and the box office totals come out every week. All the Rams do is win. But are they winning over Los Angeles?
The output of the strategy is to dazzle. The anxiety driving that approach is that no one will buy a shitty product in LA. Stan has to entertain to make his investment work. Money is on the line.
The Rams were shite in St. Louis. I have worked extensively in that city, listened to cab drivers bemoan his drab leadership, and actually worked with business people who tried to keep the franchise in the city.
When Stan moved them to LA, betraying his hometown, his team went on the record stating they needed an excellent product, because LA folk wouldn’t tolerate substandard sport. Stan had this to say:
Our goal always has been to create an exciting and long-term solution for the NFL, our 31 partners and Los Angeles football fans.
The LA Rams guiding philosophy comes from the very top and drips down into management team, I believe they call it trickle down guiding philosophy, and it works. This is their VP of Operations, Kevin Demoff.
This is actually getting to how you build a fan base brick-by-brick, fan-by-fan, and get people to understand what the Rams are
It is a very crowded landscape we once had a lofty perch in. It’s going to take time to get back to that lofty perch. The way you do it, you play exciting football. You have players who people not only recognize but they like and understand. You have a coach who brings an exciting style of play.
This sort of approach is what I called for in the summer. It’s a business winning idea, especially if like Stan, you consider sport a content game. It’s why Madrid and Barcelona invest so much on the pitch, because the rewards that come back from commercial deals rocket if you’re appealing to a global audience. The below piece in Forbes by Dr. Rishe of the Washington Business school drills into what he calls the hearts and mind strategy the new franchise is adopting.
Well, when the on-field product is abysmally boring and unimaginative, who among us as consumers of sport want to “belong” to a losing brand? Nor do we want to “identify” with a losing brand. Nor do we feel enriched from supporting a losing product.
Thus, the transformation of the Rams organization on the field since Sean McVay’s arrival as head coach plays a crucial role in transforming consumer perceptions of the brand. Now, when we think of Rams football, we think of an electrifying and innovative approach which is both hip and efficient. And these characteristics not only resonate with just about any consumer, but especially the cherished millennial and Gen Z consumers which most companies covet (due to their higher potential lifetime customer value to the company).
In short, winning the hearts and imaginations of fans helps to reinvent a brand, change consumer perceptions, inspire greater brand loyalty, which ultimately leads to a more premium-priced and profitable product.
Chasing Gen Z and Millenials is all I hear about at work, but in Premier League football’s case, it’s especially pertinent as we have an age issue in the stands with the average age of season ticket holders sitting at around 43! Clubs need to fill the pipelines back up, otherwise, there’s going to be an issue further down the line. Playing incredible football feels like a business necessity heading into an era of sport that will be be more global, mobile, easier to access, and more competitive than ever before.
Creating an incredible experience at Arsenal should have been the goal. The club had 6 months to think about who they wanted to be after the Wenger reboot, but they clearly didn’t have a plan (or it was a bit shit). Nothing screams that the club is united around a vision, or has an idea of how they’re going to make it happen. We don’t even have a CEO, opting for a Houllier/Evans power share.
Our objective is a return to the Champions League, we’ve tried to achieve that by blowing money on experience that’s not good enough. Our strategy was a tactic, with a average vision of how to achieve it. We should have been thinking about the bigger picture, clearly defining how to become exceptional within realistic contraints. Riches should have been the byproduct of succeeding with the said vision.
Arsenal do not look like they know how to be exceptional, and rumblings of Denis Suarez and Ever Banega don’t convince me that’s changing anytime soon.
Below are the actions the Rams took to get themselves into the position they’re in right now.
Key personnel decisions have completely transformed the vibe of the entire organization, including:
- The hiring of the innovative and energetic Sean McVay;
- The patience to allow McVay to develop Jared Goff into a successful NFL quarterback;
- The wisdom of extending standouts Todd Gurley and Aaron Donald to long-term deals;
- The aggressiveness during the 2018 off-season to add considerable skill and depth on both sides of the ball (specifically on defense)…not to mention the recent acquisition of Dante Fowler Jr. (though his outbursts in the Seattle game almost cost the team severely). While the defense needs serious refinements and some of the additions have underperformed (Marcus Peters) or not performed due to injury (Aqib Talib), there is still hope that the skill, depth and experience of these veterans will pay dividends in the playoffs.
Collectively, these decisions were strategically shrewd because (1) you could afford to be aggressive financially in the short-term while QB Goff is still under his rookie contract, and (2) you want to create excitement and positive energy about the brand in the build up towards the team’s eventual relocation to the palatial new stadium in Inglewood in 2020.
In short, the Rams rebrand has been accelerated by a series of strategic personnel decisions. Largely because of the play on the field, the Rams brand is now perceived to be hip, innovative, creative, and explosive. These winning traits certainly play anywhere, but especially the case in a market like Los Angeles accustomed to supporting dynamic winners.
There’s a guiding principle at the Rams, and because the goal is set at the top, you can build everything around achieving that with the resources you have at your disposal. They have built buzz from top to bottom, they know the sort of coach they needed to hire, they know the type of players, young and old they need to recruit. They know the expectations of how the game needs to be played. They have built something from nothing and there’s a huge buzz around the place.
Arsenal should be replicating this approach. It’s perfect for us. We can’t win with lavish investments. We can win by having an ambitious goal of being the most exciting young football team in Europe, building our entire club around that idea.
Key learnings from the LA Rams:
- They have a north star: Play scintillating football that captures the hearts and minds of the locals
- They hire the best thinkers in the game
- They have been creative with their approach to player trading
The exact same person that runs Arsenal dismally is pulling up trees in LA, doing ALL the things you’d want him to be doing at Arsenal.
Now, in their 3rd season in Los Angeles and 2nd season under Coach McVay’s leadership, the organization is now perceived as an innovative and electrifying team whose executive leadership isn’t afraid to make big moves both on and off the field.
That concluding point is what you want people to be writing of Arsenal. If the perception of your club reads like that, you become an exciting opportunity for young players who want to grow their careers and develop their talent with coaches that can help them. You win new fans because people want to watch you play. You grow commercials because big brands want to be associated with the most exhilarating team on the planet. You attract the best minds in the game who want to express their ideas at a club like London. You open yourselves up to new uses of technology, cutting edge fitness approaches and even science of the mind. Everything gets better because there is a guiding philosophy of excitement that drives the club.
So why can’t we have that?
You. That’s why. This is Stan on London fans.
Obviously London is a comparable stage to Los Angeles, and Arsenal has one of the most passionate and vocal fan bases in sports. So I don’t see that really impacting us.
We’re noisy, he hears us, but he doesn’t care. Why? Because a shitty Arsenal product doesn’t impact him at all.
Adidas still want to give us £60m a year. Rwanda still wants to advertise on our shirts. You still give over £1500+ for your season ticket without question. You will still attend every week, even if you find it boring. Why? Because there is no correlation between your love for Arsenal and how good they are on the pitch. This is a uniquely Premier League thing. Stan cannot lose with Arsenal unless things go really bad, which they won’t under semi-competent leadership. Premier League football is by default a success machine. The money never stops going up. You can disguise average leadership, because all the charts point upwards.
Stan works in the world of real estate. He’ll buy up property in areas where new Walmarts are going to open up, sit back, and play the long game. Same with Arsenal, he doesn’t need to invest any of his own money and the thing hikes in value like nobodies business.
He is succeeding in the NFL because he knew he had to bring new fans through the doors and he had to get people to tune into the matches. He had to do something radical, he had to entertain, and he had to invest in an idea.
Are we investing in a vision like that? What are our bold moves? What are the club doing to put on an incredible show to bring in new fans into the ‘franchise’? Doesn’t seem like a lot. We are making a lot of safe moves to catch up, but how are we using our resource to move ahead?
Arsenal can have everything the Rams have. But there needs to be a desire from the people installed at the club to push the owners for what they need. Or, it needs the people we hired to be fiercely ambitious and hugely competitive. Do we have disruptors in charge, or an easy life crowd? Outside of the excellent hiring of Sven Mislintat, where is the innovation coming from? Can you see who the club is shaping up to be over the next five years? Can you see a style developing on the pitch that you’d want to buy into if you were a young player?
I can’t.
The point of this post is it’s not all doom and gloom.
Stan has shown the world he can think like a proper owner. He’s shown that when he cares about something – because his money is on the line – he can make really exciting decisions and take risks that drive towards something.
Question is, how do we get some of that LA Rams magic to The Arsenal?
Podcast recording TODAY. Let’s all laugh at Spurs. Lololololol
Pedro,
You waiting for Emery to get the sack to bring in Arteta ( like the new McVay?)
Sancho Please send that post to Pedro since he’s the one making major leaps from superfcial assumptions. There was a time when Kroenke’s American franchises were proof of why renal will do well. Now it’s the reverse, let’s copy the US experience. Maybe we can set salary caps too, create a combinine for aspiring players an institute a draft. St Louis Rams were so crap they got so many first round picks for thier crappines. It was only a matter of time before they got the luck of the draft lottery. It’s similar to the Detroit lions who were crap… Read more »
Why do some keep comparing Wenger to Emery after six months and one transfer window ……….does it really make sense?? Does it add up?? How do both even compare??
One lorded it over a club for 22 years and his word was law in every aspect of the club
The other is an employee six months into his two year contract who is finding things a little rough at the moment and has been told all he gets to help are loan players
Yes both look very similar, silly me
*There was a time when Kroenke’s American franchises was proof of why we will never do well
Guns, when we sack Emery, we could be on a very United looking slippery slope downwards.
Everyone will demand PROVEN WINNER and we’ll end up with Sven Goran Erikson to steer the ship
Guns Agreed. If I was Emery though I would go back to just insisting on what I wanted. I would play youngsters if I had to for the legs and dare the board to fire me. Give me what I need or fire me. People being disappointed is fine, feeling we’re not doing enough, that Emery isn’t doing enough defensively etc is fine. It’s the hyperbole, the overreactions, the hysterics from some. From the pro-Wenger fans it’s obvious why there are doing it but from some others it’s a joke. Asking to see a vision and philosophy from the new… Read more »
Decent analysis as per, Dissenter.
Sancho, ‘luck’ is a nonsense. They made a smart hire and had a defined vision of what they wanted to achieve on the pitch Pedro, the notion that a professional sports franchise had no defined vision because they weren’t located in a good market is even more ridiculous. They had a vision, maybe they improved on it, but yes it was amazingly lucky that McVay has succeeded to the level that he has. Hard work and application absolutely, but lucky as well. Lucky that no major injury to the franchise players have occurred, lucky that McVay was able to hire… Read more »
Sancho, I absolutely believe that having a north star that is set by the person at the top is essential to the success of any business.
Know who you are, where you want to go and set a strategy in place to make it happen.
Arsenal don’t have that in place and that’s clear by mish-mash of approaches we’re trying to get back to the top.
… and yes, I can agree that luck plays a role in any sporting success. But luck can only happen if you’re underpinned by good process and thinking.
The structure the discredited Gazidas set up, needs to be broken up sharpish. It’s just a disparate set of names. That have no instinct,experience of Arsenal or the league we play in. They may have excelled In Spain/ Germany before- but what qualifications or expertise have they actually got.? Raul – Barca. Do they even adhere to tight budgets ? Do they find it to difficult to recruit players at Barcelona, then? As for the scruffy German. By all means have him – as your German scout. But What qualifications has he got to be promoted so quickly. Total mismanagement… Read more »
Pedro is a green snake. I’m sure if it were arteta that’s performing this badly, pedro would have shifted the blames on anyone and everyone but arteta. You at least tried praising emery during the unbeaten before showing your true colour. Emery ain’t doing well now we all know but chanting arteta’s name again and again is you shoving your agenda down our throats.
Pedro I don’t disagree, and I’m not a big fan of Stan exactly. But I find that he has been remarkably consistent in the way he’s been an owner across all his franchises, and that doesn’t absolve him of criticism but it also makes it kind of silly to constantly get on him to change his approach. Arsenal will be run the way it is run, and we’ll have to find success within that model. I just don’t see how Kroenke has changed his approach with the Rams, They just found success within a model. I for one think Arsenal… Read more »
Sancho, that’s the point, there’s a model.
There’s not one at Arsenal. It’s ‘get CL football’, which isn’t powered by a specific strategy
Vickingz, he’d be held to the same standard. No one would come here if I were pandering to a manager.
Pedro Some of us yanks have pointed out that unlike EPL, we have a draft in our pro leagues. When your team is shit, they are in a better draft position, and over time can acquire better talent going that route. EPL no such thing. Its about producing or buying or selling. Very different my friend A big market can help with game day sales etc. However, if you are shit, you are shit. Look at the LA Clippers for years. Had Donald Sterline- a maniac of an owner who was forced to be removed due his criminal and poor… Read more »
Pedro is 1000000000% correct. Arteta was perfect for Arsenal.
Sometimes there are no other reasons. It just felt right.
Thats why , I always go on about INSTINCT.
David Dein had it
Fergie Has it
Hate to say it ,Levy has it.
Look at Deins instinct to get rid of Rioch and appoint Wenger
And his recruitment of sol Campbell
We need that man back to do a root and branch reform of our club.
If we get Banega- I’ll be a dead man.
Pedro You really believe that all the moves being made on all levels at the club, installing new directors of whatever division they are making, having more people to do the work as compared to years past… all of that is just part of a “get CL football” model? You could be right. I just find that hard to believe as it would be so, so incompetent. It beggars belief. It would mean the efforts to move on from the past are fake, rather just insincerely going through the motions until the fanbase gets sick of it and accepts it… Read more »
Pedro, I love the blog but breath, man. Breath. A lot of your ideas are interesting but do sound alot like they’ve come from a film that you dreamed about that’s spliced Moneyball with Fever Pitch. The whole point of your blog was to oust Wenger. Now you’re running down the new set up in the first 6 months. Look, nobody’s raving about the way we’re playing/operating at the moment but I can’t buy into the relentless ‘corp’ chat on here at the moment (you’ve essentially replaced the word ‘Wenger’ with ‘Kroenke’ and ‘Profit & Loss’ for the past 3… Read more »
Guns, I am a resident in your country. Draft picks are no guarantee of success. Why do the Patriots win so often? Great coach, with a very specific way of doing business. They have a vision and they built the club around it.
I don’t understand how anyone can look at what the Rams are doing and say it’s just a bit of luck.
if we can get our hands on a younger, stronger and more technical midfield, it would really help.
My crack pipe dream midfield team- young fast technical and upside
Pepe/Lozano, Aouar, Sarabia, Inaki Williams -St/wing
Sancho, our strategy was to buy in experience and make the CL.
We bought two £60m strikers, took a poor gamble on Mikhi, gave Ozil a mega contract and nearly did the same with Rambo.
It didn’t work. It was a short term punt that has put us in a situation where we’ll have to retreat heavily in the summer.
Pedro, draft picks that are top talent certainly can help
There was a dude named Jordan, once upon a time. Not even a top draft pick
Some others too…
😛
TR7January 14, 2019 17:35:37 Ask all these gentlemen who defend Emery day and night one positive aspect of Emery’s coaching/management, they will all start scratching their heads. No head scratching from me. 22 game unbeaten run. Smashing the spuds. Visible passion, involvement and commitment from the sidelines. Most 2nd half points. Most points from coming from behind. Most points from substitutions, not afraid to change things Immediately when needed. More points away already this season than for the whole of last season Completely hamstrung from a car crash of a squad inherited from never seen before levels of incompetence and… Read more »
Pedro your an marketing advertising guy right?
Your posts are great from that angle- vision, models, product, marketability, consumer satisfaction etc.
In order to get all those things- you need an ownership that gets that and invests in it.
my wife works for Salesforce and indeed, the company has a unique culture! love how Mark Benioff hates Trump BTW
Stan is banking on luck and hiring the right people… but that is not going to be enough.
Fuck already- just sign us a 100M check to get us on track!
Whoa, no one said that’s all it is. The success is due to hard work from the coaching staff and the players. What I meant is, that success and hard work didn’t come about because Stan got more interested in the franchise. The people who were already in place to make decisions made a new set of decisions, and they got lucky that the decisions they made are paying off at the right time.
Sancho, our strategy was to buy in experience and make the CL.
Yes, that was the hope. You really aren’t suggesting no one at the club gave any consideration to what may happen if the club aren’t able to achieve that?
I’m not saying the front office has the right answers. But to say they aren’t even looking seems really, really unlikely.
Daniel Levy has instinct…? He hired about 10 managers in 15 years before striking lucky with Pochettino. Granted that was a smart move but before that his instinct was to consistently fuck it up.
Barney
If it takes 10 ,12 ,15. attempts .Ultimately it doesn’t matter
THEY HAVE THE RIGHT ONE ,NOW THO!
Charlie GeorgeJanuary 14, 2019 18:21:48 Look at Deins instinct to get rid of Rioch and appoint Wenger And his recruitment of sol Campbell We need that man back to do a root and branch reform of our club. I would absolutely LOVE to have David Dein back here running the show, 100%. Let’s put Emery to one side and all get behind that idea, maybe even Pedro could do a post and use his Twitter following to get that idea trending and gathering some momentum? If we’re going to take a punt on unproven ex players I’d rather go with… Read more »
Nothing wrong making mistakes.
We all make em
Rectifying them quickly- is what makes u successful!
Like it BD
he would be back in a heartbeat too
Like us. HE IS mad about The Arsenal!
@Pedro
But we already had all of this
Exciting football – check
Bringing through young players – check
Financial discipline – check
Footballing success – moderate yes (20 years CL), but still a check
We chose to drive away the one guy who had the vision. It didn’t always work, but the vision was there.
As we know, for some, the workd is not enough.
Dein ,back at the Arsenal, refreshed, energised after his exile.
Putting arsenal people in positions of influence.
Laced with overseas STARDUST
How exciting would that’ be..
Come on arsenal!
@bennydevito
It was Fizsman and co’s hatred for DD that made them sell to Kroenke, and not to Usmanov.
They didn’t want any way back for him. Selling to Usmanov would have brought him back as part of Red & White Holdings.
Artetas hair does not move.
another yes man for sure. Anyone who was Wenger’s yes man is a NO man for me!
He will continue to inhale Peps farts and hopes that will teach him something.
Heck, what would Pep do without the superstars that he has always had. I do not even include him in these coaching conversations.. Dude has always had stacked teams
Charlie GeorgeJanuary 14, 2019 18:45:58
Dein ,back at the Arsenal, refreshed, energised after his exile.
Putting arsenal people in positions of influence.
Laced with overseas STARDUST
How exciting would that’ be..
Come on arsenal!
It would be a dream to have him back and I second everything you’ve just said 100%.
Bd
A hugely astute Arsenal man.
With a great footballing antennae
It would be the best move the Kroenkes could ever make –
Take the heat off them
Put The Calm back with the fanbase.
Everybody would know- regardless of his decisions
He is an Arsenal man.
@Wengaball,
I hear you, but they’re all gone now so if there’s any chance of getting DD back in we should be all over that. Unfortunately with Kronke running the show that will never happen because of his ties with Usmanov.
Pretty disappointed that Usmanov through the towel in so easily especially as he has way more money than Kronke and would have taken a much more active role.
Why would Arteta have been “perfect” for Arsenal?
I would really like to know.
Charlie Georege
“He is an Arsenal man.”
What does this even mean?
It’s Arsenal people that got us into this mess.
Don’t you ever get tired of all these “Arsenal values” and tradition nonsense.
We need the best people in charge regardless of their background or nationality.
Its just CG Dissenter
He cant move from his pro UK EPL experienced bias.
🙂
Disenter
What arsenal people got into this mess
Gazidas
Raul
Emery
WENGER gave arsenal fans football- no one has seen over here
So what it went belly up
That’s life.
David Dein is 76, not 54.
He won’t be coming back to Arsenal.
So basically Pedro, Kroenke isnt doing shit for us, doesnt care cos the value goes up every year but you dont want him to eff off?
Sf
He cant move from his pro UK EPL experienced bias.
Perhaps, Its because we play in the UK
And there is clear evidence, British players have more chance of succeeding( power and pace) and getting success
If we ever play in the euro super league technical League
(Go more European/technical)
Clubs with unlimited funds can
Go and get the best regardless.
We ain’t.
There is an easy way to solve the immediate problem …beat Chelsea and Manchester United…..put in performances similar to the spurs (4-2) and Liverpool(1-1) games and you will be amazed at his quick the fans perception of things will change .
The manager needs to be brave with his team selection , he needs to pick a team and a formation that is attacking and positive , we need a performance that will get the fans back onside.
Disenter
“Arsenal values” and tradition nonsense.
We need the best people in charge regardless of their background or nationality.
WE HAVE EMERY IN CHARGE?
My perfect replacement after Wenger would have been Mr Coolness personified, Carlo Ancelotti.
“The manager needs to be brave with his team selection , he needs to pick a team and a formation that is attacking and positive , we need a performance that will get the fans back onside.”
That ship has sailed for Emery. No matter what he does, Emery is damned.
Pierre
You make it sound so simple.
azed,
“That ship has sailed for Emery. No matter what he does, Emery is damned.”
Damned with who?
Azed
“That ship has sailed for Emery. No matter what he does, Emery is damned.”
No he isn’t…..our ex manager was the master at picking a rabbit out of the hat in times like these and Emery needs to find a rabbit to save his bacon.
Emery isn’t doomed.
I agree with that militant CA. He should double down on his approach, give us glimpses of where we should be going and he should give more time to kids over players like Licht.
He can easily win the doubters over
Black Snake, he lives in the states, he’s never leaving.
So you have to hope he can focus the same energy on us, as he is the rams
One of the best, if not, the best post you have ever written, Peter. I’ve read your blog for years now and this one is excellent.
Pierre
Nothing like a bacon and rabbit casserole to satisfy the appetite.
Graham
It really is that simple …… When we were winning there was none of this negative off the pitch talk because fans were happy with what they were seeing on the pitch.
Think about it ,win the next 2 games and we are back in contention for champions league place and in the next round of the fa cup…
I think what azed is referring to is the number of fans like Pierre who have already made up their mind because they cannot stop clamoring for a spectre from the past.
Or should I say, made up their minds in September.
I agree with what Pedro is saying in that post. I don’t know enough the NFL to be able to judge whether Kroenke stumbled on the recipe for success by accident, luck or by design. However I know that in order to be successful a franchise and now that Arsenal is US owned, it is a Franchise it has to maximise local, national and international appeal while minimising cost. The way to appeal is to provide a fresh product that either win or entertain. If you don’t win and propose a turgid display of games, then your franchise will slide… Read more »
Pierre, Pedro Dissenter
With the fans, unless of course if he wins all games.
You and I will never agree on Ozil and there are lots of fans like that so for every loss Emery gets, he would get it based on his position on Ozil.
We lose without Ozil you would say we might have won with him.
We lose with Ozil, you know what I will say.
Pedro
Never say never.
Is Kroenke indestructible or something?
Maybe kryptonite would solve the problem.
You’re becoming Americanised.
Are you sure you have a passport?
Thanks Guns!
Graham, one can dream… not sure he’ll pack it in unless TV money hits its peak. Even then you know he’s hanging on for a super league
The situation with Ozil is exacerbating the hard losses.
We make top 4, they will say Ozil was not needed and Emery was right. We lose out on top 4, they say that Ozil would have made a difference.
I too am starting to believe that he needs to field his best team, and let Ozil succeed or fall flat on his face. This sporadic playing of him, is leaving too many questions-
My money is on Ozil leaving in summer regardless.
There are three “guns” on here
Guns of Brixton
Guns of Hackney
Guns of SF
Plenty Guns
Pierre
I changed my views dramatically not just because we started stuttering, it was because Emery was making some brain dead stupid decisions.
Infact, it’s now got to the stage(exceptionally quickly for me) where I’m seriously questioning Emery’s appointment.
Who would have thought?
GSF
“I too am starting to believe that he needs to field his best team, and let Ozil succeed or fall flat on his face. ”
This is what I mean by Emery is doomed unless he wins all the remaining games as every loss would be judged on Ozil’s playing time.
People seem to also forget that Emery has had to play Xhaka at left back and centre back because of injuries and suspension.
Azed
And Ozil is sitting smugly thinking after every loss, his supporters are getting more and more demanding and vocal.
Not bad for him… dont play, we lose, and Emery gets blamed.
its this cat and mouse game all season long.
IF we cannot sell Ozil now, play him and let the world see how shit he is.
Perhaps he can give us an assist here and there since he has declined at a rapid pace
Emery sacked yet?
Pedro
You need to get out more.
Life is not always that black and white.
If you look at the first team squad, it is littered with totally gash players, with midfield being particularly shit. Only Torreira and Guendouzi are first team material. I don’t count Ramsey, as he is on his way out. Might keep Xhaka and AMN as a bench player. The rest of them are a waste of space. Earning more than their worth and unable to motivate themselves. Unfortunately, one of these fucks is earning 350K per week, making him unsellable in any case, even if he had a worldie rest of the season, everyone knows his attitude stinks. For as… Read more »
Graham, Stan isn’t going anywhere. We are the crown jewel in his portfolio. It’s pretty black and white. I get out enough.
Azed
“People seem to also forget that Emery has had to play Xhaka at left back and centre back because of injuries and suspension.”
he didn’t have to split up the Torriera/Xhaka combo that was so effective…..elneny or one of the kids coming through could have filled in for a game of 2…….I feel he panicked a little with his selections.
GSF
“IF we cannot sell Ozil now, play him and let the world see how shit he is.”
Ozil lost the ball for the 3rd goal against Southampton, lots of people blamed him for play Kos who was our only fit defender.
Emery was also blamed for play Leno even though Leno is central to the way Emery wants to play.
Pedro has said he should play the kids meanwhile there are fans calling for Emery’s head because he plays Guendozi.
Pierre
“he didn’t have to split up the Torriera/Xhaka combo that was so effective…..elneny or one of the kids coming through could have filled in for a game of 2…….I feel he panicked a little with his selections.”
Hindsight is 20/20
but don’t you think he felt Guendozi is better suited and ready for the first team than say Medley?
And this was an away game.
Iwobi who is a squad player at best is the only player that remotely resembles a winger and was one of our better players against WestHam but that didn’t stop Pedro from taking shots at him.
The question is who would Emery have played in place of Iwobi?
Against WestHam, Ramsey came on and was decent but the few games he had started, he was really poor so the question is should Ramsey be a starter knowing that he’s one leg out the door?
azed,
Iwobi is a trier, but also a bit of a headless chicken. Good impression against WHU is a result of him being the only one running like he gave a shit.
This new regime – thought it was fit to extend Elnenys contract.
They bought lichsteiner .
They extended Xhakas contract
They buy players with no sell on( sokratis, PEA, arguably with Leno)
They choose a manager- who does not speak English -and who named 5 ( not 1) captain.
And yet carp on about a self sustaining model.
They are humiliating our magnificent Ramsey- by pulling his contract so publicly
They will never get this club.
And they never will.
This pack of cards- won’t last until Easter.
In the summer sell Ozil, Lacazette, Xhaka, Mustafi get what we fucking can and rebuild, not just the team but the mentality.
Sorting out the shocking state Wenger left the squad in physically and mentally was always going to take time.
I think if we finish below 6th and fail to win Europa Emery will be gone in the summer. I think because so many of us put up with Wenger for so long we’ve ran out of patience and want a very quick fix and I also feel the knives are out so quick for Emery because none of us saw his appointment coming and none of us wanted him or were happy with his appointment – I definitely wasn’t and was extremely disappointed that he got it over Allegri or Ancelloti. However, like I said, with the DOF model… Read more »
No other club of stature- would persist with what we are witnessing.
Psg got shot off him- and he won 3/4 last year!
Why should we?
Everton got through 3 managers last season.
Watford 2
Leicester 2.
Why are we so wretchedly timid.
Let’s not wait
Freddie L – til the end of the season
We could then get momentum and still go on an ole inspired run!
Is anyone watching the U23s?
Absolutely taking it to City, Saka has 2, Willock has scored and Amaechi has scored.
Mavropanos started, is anyone watching who can say how he’s doing?
I really think Mavropanos should be starting, but that Saka, Smith Rowe and Willock should get some first team minutes in the EPL seeing as our options are so limited.
Wolves are really well coached.
They’ve maintained their defensive shape since they lost one man and still venture out on proper counters.
Cesc,
Where can we watch the U23s?
Even Huddersfield have gone with the parting of the ways with Wagner.
And he has been brilliant for them.
No time for timidity in modern soccer.
The way Saka & Amaechi have played, they should be involved in the first team squad.
I would not usually suggest that fr 17-18 year olds, but they are real prospects, and we have such poor AM options.
We had 3 fucking full backs on the bench on Saturday.
Anyone else think that without some form of cash injection then this is us for the foreseeable?
Just can’t see it happening any time soon no matter how well managed or creative we are.
So utterly depressing.
Benny
There’s probably a stream for them, not sure if Arsenal Player shows the youth games.
I was following on Twitter and wanted to see if anyone was actually watching who could comment on the players.
Gambon
Saka is being talked up by everyone, just seen someone tweet he’s too good for this level.
Why not throw him in? What an absolute gift that would be even if it was just something raw you could see in him. Might help us out massively for the rest of the season and potentially with regards to our summer plans.
All these AKB’s have gone all trigger happy since their Idol got binned.
“The way Saka & Amaechi have played, they should be involved in the first team squad.”:
That’s one of the indictments against Emery. He’s been playing it too safe recycling dross.
On Saturday, we should have brought on either of them when it was clear that Auba and Lack weren’t ‘t doing anything.
“Anyone else think that without some form of cash injection then this is us for the foreseeable?”
Not at all.
Just needs good recruitment and good coaching.
Look at some of Svens buys in the last few years:
Akanji £19m
Zagadou £0
Sancho £9m
Those 3 would have cost the same as Torreira and would improve us dramatically.
It has to be said.
Wenger would have played Saka by now in the league.
Cesc Appeal
The thing is, we needto maximise our resources, so some tough decisions need to be made.
For example selling Iwobi and Mykhitaryan, and replacing with Nelson and Saka would release maybe £40m to spend on other areas without reducing squad size.
Selling Elneny and replacing with Willock would release £10-15m without reducing squad size.
I would much rather loan them out at first to test if they have the ability, but we’re in a situation where we have to sell some players, use some kids and make smart purchases.
Poch would have played a lot of these youth players as well.
They are better than a lot of the oldies we have been relying upon.
“Poch would have played a lot of these youth players as well.
They are better than a lot of the oldies we have been relying upon.”
Not remotely true.
Emery is getting ripped for not playing Ozil and Ramsey
Nicolas Pepe cost £10m a couple of years ago
Tanguy NDombele was £8m
Dele Alli was £6m
Along with Sancho, Akanji and Zagadou…..we would be in the top 4 with these players and a good coach.
Cost for all 6 = £52m